Commission on Conservation & Agriculture

Chairperson Elisabeth Holder (’22) Commission Vice-Chair Members Brian Gartner (’23) Michael Thomas (’20) Kate Miller (’23) on Jane Brawerman (’23) Katharine Owens (’22) James Miller (’23) Bob Daniels (’22) Conservation & Agriculture Barbara Schukoske (’23) Vacant David Bauer (’22) Alternates Ellen Lukens (’23) Judy Konopka (’22) Staff Marek Kozikowski, AICP, City Planner REGULAR MEETING MINUTES DATE: Tuesday, September 21, 2021 TIME: 7:00 p.m. Meeting was held online. Public Access was provide by: 1. Going to https://webex.com and joining the meeting using the appropriate meeting number and password 2. Launching the WebEx application and joining the meeting using the appropriate meeting number and password 3. Via telephone at 1-408-418-9388 and the appropriate access code Meeting Number/Access Code: 1736666211 Event Password: Conservation In attendance: Commissioners Elisabeth Holder, Brian Gartner, Bob Daniels, Jim Miller, Barbara Schukoske, Michael Thomas, Judy Konopka, and Ellen Lukens. Staff in Attendance. Marek Kozikowski, City Planner; James Sipperly, Environmental Planner Public In attendance: Mark Eisner, Melisa Shulke, Joyce Kirkpatrick, Lany Bank, Steve Devoto, Meghan Bush, John Elmore, Sally Tumea A. Call to Order The meeting was called to order at 7:08pm. B. Accept the Agenda A motion to accept the agenda was made by B. Gartner and seconded by M. Thomas and add item E to the end of the meeting. passed unanimously. C. Public Forum 9 members of the public in attendance. Sally Tumea property owner, 30 Laurel Grove Road wishes to donate her property at the corner of Wadsworth Street where the house was burned down. The owners cannot rebuild on the existing foundation. They have since bought another house to stay in Middletown. Sally would like to donate to the City and the land value alone is $90 –100,000 However it will cost $88,000 to demolish. This can be used as open space and is adjacent to the mansion. Sally would like to make a straight donation and realize a tax deduction. The property is 2 acres according to the deed. Mark Eisner would like to see the property reunited with the mansion. Mark stated that he fully supports the city taking this property for open space. Mellisa Shulke supports this project and stated that this is a big advantage for the city to acquire this property. Joyce Kirkpatrick stated that she has been involved with the Long Hill Estate preservation for a long time. Joyce read a long paper into the record. Joyce stated that she supports this acquisition. Lany Bank is in favor of having the city doing the demolition and owning the parcel. Page 1 of 4 Steve Devoto stated that he would like to see a historic home replaced but if not, he supports this as well. Meghan Bush is the Executive Director of the Wadsworth Estate and she supports this too. The Estate has 103 acres and asked who would maintain this property if it were to go to the City. Meghan fully supports this. Rebecca McCallun stated that she supports this donation. John Elmore thanked the city for preserving so much open space. He supports this being close to the downtown and Wesleyan. D. Approval of Minutes: 1. There are no minutes received. E. Request for Comment This item was moved to the end of the meeting. F. Officers and Committee Reports 1. Chair’s Report i. Middletown Press Article Liz stated that overall she is pleased with it talking about the big picture, open space and passive recreation. ii. Vacancies Liz stated that Kat Owens left and there are two vacancies. Judy is an alternate and should be moved up to a regular member. Mike Miayer, Kat’s husband may be willing to serve. Liz stated we could fill them in October. iii. Ravine Park issues There is still a problem with illegal dumping. Liz will talk to the Police Chief and Deputy Chief so that we can have an increased police presence in that location. 2. Trails Committee i. Bridge proposal A material list was developed and we can purchase the materials with the Land Use credit card. This purchase of materials and delivery and installation needs to be coordinated. A motion to approve an expenditure from the open space bond for the construction of a 36 in wide bridge was made by B. Gardner and seconded by J. Miller was approved unanimously. ii. Tri-town and Land Trust ATV issue proposal E. Holder reported that David Brown is trying to coordinate a tri-town management group including Middletown, Meriden, Berlin, and possibly Haddam to deal with ATV use and other issues on the open spaces. 3. Agriculture Committee i. Ag Program/grant B. Daniels reported that he sent a memo explaining a proposal based on some general criteria for applicants to submit a request for funding. We should do an article for the paper to explain the grant proposal. L. Holder was thinking of using $125,000. Motion: Allow Bob Daniels to promote publicity on this and move forward with this initiative to work Tom Marano to develop an application process. Moved by B. Gartner; seconded by J. Konopka approved unanimously. Page 2 of 4 B. Gartner stated that the press release should emphasize that this is a product of the Ag committee and a lot of thought went to this project. B . Gartner asked Mark if there was any federal reuse land money for this. 4. Outreach Committee i. Conservation Corner update ii. Other initiatives Source to Sea Cleanup is being held September 25 weekend. J. Sipperly reported that he was working with Darin Overton from Milone and Macbroom Engineering, Inc., now SCR Engineering. A cleanup is set for September 25, at 10am. Commission members are welcome to participate in. 5. Open Space Management Committee i. Wilcox and Guida Management Plans Recommended management activities need to get done. Hiring a consultant to oversee this work should be considered. There is a lot of invasive species at Guida Preserve. M. Thomas will join the Management Committee B. Gartner stated that the management goes back to the consultants to be able to move forward. Wilcox management consultants are no longer available. Kate asked if we can use money to hire a consultant moving forward. Jane mentioned about creating a subset of the commission to accomplish this using staff. 6. Open Space Acquisition Committee- Executive Session i. Pending Property Updates (Mckiernan, Sunshine Realty, Westlake Drive, South Plumb Road and /Majestic Oaks Majestic Oaks, Mark reported is moving forward. P&Z looking at it now. State grant is done. Westlake Drive, Mark is looking forward on an endorsement of this commission. This property is a high ranking property with existing trails. The price is $250,000 for 74 acres for use as open space and passive recreation. The purchase will be completed using bond money. Motion: That the commission on Conservation and Agriculture recommends that the Westlake Drive property be acquired for open space. Moved by J. Brawerman; seconded E. Lukens approved unanimously. G. Old Business No discussion. H. New Business 1. Janet Brooks, presentation on wetland law Janet Brooks, 290 Old Farms West, is an attorney. Janet reported that there is a systematic problem with the Wetland Commission issuing general permits to the public works department to conduct routine maintenance in and around wetland. She explained a situation on Sawmill Road where public works was repairing a wash out to the road. K. miller asked about what can be done by departments doing this work. E. Lukens asked about state regulations and is the City in compliance. J. Konopka can understand the concerns here happening behind the scenes. B. Gartner would like more information on this before moving to any conclusions. K. miller asked Mark to get a report on this and if there are any records for emergency activities on this. I. Member Forum J. Miller reported on vandalism on Higby Mountain. Felling of trees occurred along the ridge top. CFPA is looking into this as well. Motion : To go into Executive Session inviting J. Sipperly and M. kozikowski to discuss open space properties. Moved by M. Thomas; seconded by B. Daniels approved unanimously. The recording was turned off. Page 3 of 4 The Commission came out of Executive session at 9:45pm. 30 Laurel Grove Road donation Motion: That the Commission finds that the acquisition of 30 Laurel Grove road does not support using funds from the open space fund to demolish a building, however the Commission does not object to the overall donation. Moved by J. Brawerman; seconded by B. Daniels, approved unanimously. Kaplan Drive land swap Motion: That the Commission supports the land swap on Kaplan Drive owned by the city of Middletown for land to be designated as open space with conditions that there is no contamination on the property; that the property will remain in open space custody; that the wetlands will be protected; and that the bike path will be extended and improved by the developer. Moved by K. Miller; seconded by B. Gartner approved unanimously J. Adjournment A motion to adjourn at 9:54 pm. was made by B. Schukosko and seconded by B. Daniels passed unanimously. Page 4 of 4